Reviewed August 2022
by Martin J Quinn

HMS Agamemnon was one of two Lord Nelson-class pre-dreadnought battleships launched in 1906 and completed in 1908. She was the Royal Navy's second-to-last pre-dreadnought battleship to be built, followed by her sister ship, Lord Nelson. She was assigned to the Channel Fleet when the First World War began in 1914. The ship was transferred to the Mediterranean Sea with Lord Nelson in early 1915 to participate in the Dardanelles Campaign. She made a number of bombardments against Turkish fortifications and in support of British troops. Agamemnon remained in the Mediterranean after the conclusion of that campaign to prevent the German battlecruiser SMS Goeben and light cruiser Breslau from breaking out into the Mediterranean. Agamemnon shot down the German Zeppelin LZ-55 (LZ-85) during a bombing mission over Salonica in 1916. On 30 October 1918, the Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros on board the ship while she was anchored at Lemnos in the northern Aegean Sea. She was converted to a radio-controlled target ship following her return to the United Kingdom in March 1919 and began service in 1921. Agamemnon was replaced by Centurion at the end of 1926 and sold for scrap in January 1927, the last pre-dreadnought in service with the Royal Navy.

According to RA Burt in "British Battleships, 1889-1904", Agamemnon was a marked advance in all around fighting efficiency over the previous King Edward VII class of ships, and considered only slightly less powerful than Dreadnought.   Burt goes on to say, that, while the Lord Nelson's were "outclassed" at long range, "under 10,000 yard, she was indeed a powerful ship against any of the early dreadnoughts-especially given that her scale of armor protection was greater than that of Dreadnought".*

For more information on Agamemnon's history, check out her Wikipedia page, where this history was taken from. 

*Burt British Battleships 1889-1904, pg 284

The Hobby Boss USS Agamemnon

The Hobby Boss 1/350 HMS Agamemnon comes is a sturdy cardboard box.  On the box top is a painting of Agamemnon at anchor, with the name of the ship misspelled as "Agamenon".  The kit appears to represent the "as built" Agamemnon, with the smaller forward spotting top and the top mast on the aft spotting top present (the photo I used for the header shows her later in her career.  Not accurate, but much cooler).  All the parts come enclosed in separate plastic bags, with some of the more delicate ones wrapped inside those bags to prevent damage. 

The hull, which is two pieces, split down the middle, scales out almost perfectly in length and beam.  On the hull you'll find portholes, with "eyebrows" over them, and hull plating, which, overall, looks pretty good.  It's not overstated like the hull plating on the Merit/I Love Kit Yorktown/Enterprise kit hulls. 

The very prominent flying deck is a sprue unto itself.   On the real ship, this was built to accommodate the anti-torpedo boat guns and the ships boats.   The kit part will need some cleanup - there are some knockout pins on the underside of the structure, which may be visible when installed on the deck.  There are also some  prominent mold lines visible on the sides of the structure, near its forward end. 

Here you'll find the funnels, funnel caps (the screens are included in the photo-etch), boats, boat chocks, a punt and thwarts as well as a bridge platform.  The punt has a planked deck and the funnels some raised surface detail.

The hull stiffeners and the top deck of the flying deck are found here.  The deck has raised lines to help with the placement of the boat chocks.  

This sprue has the bases for the funnels, the name plate and more platforms for the superstructure.  

There are more boat davits, searchlights, the secondary anti-torpedo boat armament, more ships boats and thwarts and some support columns for the flying deck. 

The kit comes with anchor chain, not blackened, in a small plastic bag. 

There are four photo-etch frets in the kit.  These contain rails, inclined ladders, vertical ladders, the stern walk, canopy and rails, the screens for the top of the funnels, as well as some braces and small platforms, pulleys, supports and hatches for the secondary guns in the superstructure.    It's typical of the photo-etch included in most of the recent Trumpeter/Hobby Boss kits.

There is one small decal sheet included with the model.   On it you'll find one Union Jack and one White Ensign in two styles - either straight or "waving". 

The instructions are in the typical Trumpeter/Hobby Boss style:  booklet form with exploded view drawings.   If you've built a Trumpeter/Hobby Boss kit before, you know what to expect.  There is a color profile of the ship included as well. 

This is Hobby Boss Model's kit number 86509, the 1/350 USS Agamemnon.   The model retails for $93.99, and is available from Model Rectifier Corporation - who I'd like to thank for this review sample. 

This is an in-box review of the kit contents only.  Your mileage may vary once you start construction.